| Dernier domicile connu (1970) | Crime / Drama / Thriller |
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Dernier domicile connu
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Synopsis
As a result of a serious professional blunder, Inspector Leonetti finds
himself transferred to a minor police department. There, he is
assigned to a difficult case involving a certain Roger Martin, who has
disappeared with his small daughter. Martin is in fact a key
witness in a murder case and is required to give evidence against a
well-known gangster. To help him in his hunt for Martin, Leonetti
is teamed up with Jeanne, a young policewoman with next to no
experience. By frequently changing his address Martin hopes not
only to evade Leonetti and Jeanne, but also the band of gangsters who
are determined to prevent him from testifying...
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium) Film Review
A classic of the French policier genre, Dernier domicile connu, is the
third film directed by José Giovanni, one that paints a sombre
and disturbing portrait of police methods and gangster activity in the
early 70s. Giovanni had scripted several notable French crime
dramas, including Jacques Becker’s Le Trou (1960) (based on his
first novel) and Jacques Deray’s Du rififi à Tokyo
(1962). The authenticity and moral ambiguity that we find in
Giovanni’s films follows from his own experiences as a juvenile
criminal and then a convict (he came close to being guillotined for a
series of murders perpetrated by the family gang he belonged to).
Despite its slow pace and somewhat predictable plot, Dernier domicile connu manages to be a compelling and poignant drama, stylishly shot and with superlative contributions from its lead actors, Lino Ventura and Marlène Jobert. As we often find in José Giovanni’s films, there is an important political subtext, and here the writer-director militates strongly for protection of witnesses by the police. The film is one of the earliest examples of the neo-polar in French cinema, a development of the classic polar of the 1950s and 60s in which the police and authority figures in general would lose the moral high ground, becoming indistinguishable from crooks and mobsters as they pursue their own, morally dubious agenda. Write a review for this film... User Comments
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